The action comes two weeks before the deadline for the full City Council to change salaries ahead of the Aug. 27 municipal elections. Under state law, salaries must be fixed at least six months before the elections, said City Attorney Tim Nunnally.

City Council salaries are currently at $25,000, and the City Council president is paid $30,000. Putting those salaries on the city's current pay schedule, which is required by law to allow cost-of-living adjustments, would place them at $25,036.53 and $30,170.65, respectively.

Councilman Lee Garrison, chairman of the Finance Committee, said that he did not think anyone wanted to raise the salary, but opened up a discussion about tying council salaries to the Southeast consumer price index beginning after the municipal election.

"Who knows if any of us are going to be here anyway, so we really need to look at it like we did with the mayor's salary and look at it from a standpoint of what's best policy for city moving forward," Garrison said.

The council voted in October to raise the mayor's salary from $100,000 to $134,401.27 after the August election.

Most of the council members at Tuesday's committee meeting said they could go with setting new cost-of-living adjustments for council members or keeping salaries at their current level.

Nunnally said the adjustments for the city's pay schedule go into effect at the beginning of the fiscal year, and could be stopped with action by the council.